Politics and Persistence: The Development of Iranian Film

Summary

Iranian film today is a vibrant aspect of Persian culture that has acquired a place in the wider world. It is not surprising that Iranian film should have received so much attention in the West in the last few decades, since this powerful medium has been used to reflect almost every aspect of Persian culture, including social, religious, and political issues, in an attractive way. The development of Iranian film parallels the turbulent history of modern Iran. In fact, without some understanding of Iranian history, one cannot fully appreciate Iranian film.

The early history of the Iranian film industry is not well documented. An 1896 documentary about Mozaffar al-Din Shah (fifth Qajar king of Iran, reigned 1896-1907), made by Russikhân, an Anglo-Russian man living in Iran, has been lost. Some scholars claim that the Shah's official photographer, Mirzâ Ebrâhim Khân, was in fact the first Persian to make films, during the Shah's journey to Europe in 1900.

The first cinema was opened in Iran in 1905 by a man named Sahhâf Bâshi. Sahhâf Bâshi was severely criticized by the clergy, in part because the cinema brought women, and depictions of them, into public spaces. This was a controversial issue at the time, debated by both secular and religious intellectuals. At first, the cinema was open only to men, but later special provisions were made for women in cinemas and, after several more years, there were cinemas built just for women.

Gender segregation was so strict that female roles in Iranian films were initially played by cross-dressing men, as was customary in a popular traditional form of Persian theatre, called ta’ziyya or passion plays. Indeed, early Iranian cinema took many techniques from these passion plays. For example, in silent movies, since many visitors were illiterate, a narrator would walk around the cinema, telling the story.

The majority of films shown were comedies, imported from Russia and elsewhere. Indigenous films were also made, but these have not been preserved. During Rezâ Shah's reign in the first half of the 20th century, cinema became an effective instrument for the regime, recording the Shah's coronation, his opening of a railway system, and several other modernization projects. He had a considerable influence on Iranian cinema. Perhaps the most visible legacy was the participation of women in both cinema and theater, boosted by Rezâ Shah's 1936 decree forbidding women to wear the veil in public.